Saturday's weighin and a fear of stairs

Saturday, December 10, 2010 Weigh-in:  177.8

Loss for the week:  -0.8

Total loss since 2/9/2008:  -61.4

I'm not very happy with myself about such a minor loss, but at least it's a loss. I'm still on track for my goal of losing an average of 1.5 pounds per week. I lost 2.2 pounds the previous week, and with this .8 that's three pounds in two weeks. Not the numbers I want, but the numbers I earned (through lack of discipline).

Even though I vowed to stop eating what Helen refers to "Franken Food" (love that phrase), I somehow managed to eat an entire package of Skinny Cows at FOUR Points each. In one day! That was just one incident that led to such a small weight loss. I had a few others.

It's a new day, a new week, new plan. This week will be better. I promise!

The Big Climb
I'm starting to realize what I got myself into by agreeing to do the Big Climb, 69 flights of stairs at the Columbia Center in Seattle on March 20, 2011. I watched some videos on YouTube about it and frankly my dear, I'm a little bit scared of what I've committed to. It appears to be a young, very physically fit person's sport.

I looked at the race results for last year and the oldest person was an eighty year old woman. She completed the race in 35 minutes. My 50-year old coworker completed it in 15 minutes last year.

Of course I'm not going into this as a race, but I want decent results. As the team captain for our work group I want to do a good job. So far I have 30 people that have agreed to do this with me as part of our corporate team, and I only announced it last Tuesday. At the encouragement of my coworker I signed our team up as a timed team, meaning we'll have the little chip in our shoes for the timing.

I've found all kinds of articles online about stair climbing as a sport. Tips on stair climbing techniques, workouts, and what you should wear (gloves with rubber pads on the fingers, running shoes not cross trainers). The workouts I've seen are tough, focusing not just on the quads and the glutes, but the arms and shoulders (you use the railings to pull yourself up), and the core (apparently a strong core is crucial).

In other words, I have a lot of work to do. No more non-structured workouts where I do what I want. I have to add in some exercises that will strengthen the areas I've been ignoring, like my core and abs. As I've mentioned many times, I hate lower body workouts, like squats and lunges. I do them, but half-hearted. Sometimes on lower body workout days (three a week), I decide I'm not in the mood and double up on my cardio. Since these are areas I need to really focus on, I have to really get serious about my workouts.

The other thing I need to get serious about is losing my 20 pounds. This is really critical. There's no way I can climb 69 flights at my current weight of 177.8 pounds. That's too heavy. I have to get under 160. The closer I can get to 155 the better. I have exactly fourteen weeks from today. If I can continue the 1.5 pounds lost per week, I could lose the 20 pounds. I really need to stay focused. I don't want March 20 to come and I feel scared and defeated before I even start the climb. I have a lot of work ahead of me.

By the way, if anyone wants to donate to the Big Climb click here. Even a $5 gift would be appreciated. All proceeds benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Your tax deductible donation helps in the fight against blood cancers.